1 Corinthians 15:23 BSB

1 Corinthians 15:23

But each in his own turn: Christ the firstfruits; then at His coming, those who belong to Him.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; then they that are Christ’s, at his coming.

KJV

But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.

⋯

Commentary

2 voices

Ambrose of Milan

On the Death of Satyrus 2.92 (397)

The fruit of divine mercy is common to all, but the order of merit differs.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

It is because he has risen that they rise. Note, Those that are Christ's must rise, because of their relation to him. He argues from the continuance of the mediatorial kingdom till all Christ's enemies are destroyed, the last of which is death,

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Albert Barnes

1798–1870

Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)

But every man - Everyone, including Christ as well as others. In his own order - In his proper order, rank, place, time. The word τάγμα tagma usually relates to military order or array; to the arrangement of a cohort, or band of troops; to their being properly marshalled with the officers at the head, and every man in His proper place in the ranks. Here it means that there was a proper “order” to be observed in the resurrection of the dead.

Voices on this verse

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Hebraic traditional view

The sheaf behind “firstfruits”

“Firstfruits” is not a loose metaphor; it is a feast. During Passover week the first sheaf (the omer) of the barley harvest was brought to the priest and waved before the LORD “on the day after the Sabbath” (Leviticus 23:10–11): one sheaf, offered ahead of the whole harvest as its pledge and its guarantee. Paul writes that Christ was raised as “the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep”: the one, risen at that very season, standing for the many to follow. The feast's logic is the argument: where the first sheaf goes, the harvest follows.

Sources: Leviticus 23:10–11 (the waved sheaf) · Mishnah Menachot 10:3 (the omer's cutting, as practiced)

Original language & word study

16 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
ἕκαστος	hekastos	each	G1538 →
δὲ	de	however	G1161 →
ἐν	en	in	G1722 →
τῷ	tō	the	G3588 →
ἰδίῳ	idiō	own	G2398 →
τάγματι·	tagmati	order:	G5001 →
ἀπαρχὴ	aparchē	[the] firstfruit	G536 →
Χριστός,	Christos	Christ,	G5547 →
ἔπειτα	epeita	then	G1899 →
οἱ	hoi	those	G3588 →
τοῦ	tou	<the>	G3588 →
Χριστοῦ	Christou	of Christ	G5547 →
ἐν	en	at	G1722 →
τῇ	tēa	the	G3588 →
παρουσίᾳ	parousia	coming	G3952 →
αὐτοῦ·	autou	of Him;	G846 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
1 Corinthians 15:52
in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
leads to
- 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17
  For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will be the first to…
- Matthew 24:31
  And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
Through
Isaiah 26:19
Your dead will live; their bodies will rise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust! For your dew is like the dew of the morning, and the earth will bring forth her…
leads to
- Daniel 12:2
  And many who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, but others to shame and everlasting contempt.
- Ezekiel 37:1–14
  The hand of the LORD was upon me, and He brought me out by His Spirit and set me down in the middle of the valley, and it was full of bones.
- Matthew 27:52
  The tombs broke open, and the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep were raised.
Through
Galatians 3:29
And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise.
leads to
- Ephesians 3:6
  This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus.
- Romans 9:7–8
  Nor because they are Abraham’s descendants are they all his children. On the contrary, “Through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.”
- Galatians 3:7
  Understand, then, that those who have faith are sons of Abraham.